NLL: Wings fall to Wolves at Wells Fargo

The New England Black Wolves were on the prowl Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center and they took down their prey – the Philadelphia Wings.

New England went on to win 9-7 after jumping out to a 4-2 lead in the first. The game, which was quite physical, ended as it began. Just 26 in, a scrap between Nick Chaykowsky and Steph Charbonneau broke out.

It ended with another scrap with 13:50 gone in the fourth quarter between Ryan Wagner and Colton Watkinson that ended in a wrestling style take down along with several penalties. Both incidents fired up both benches as well as the fans.

The second quarter saw both teams score two goals. In the third, Philadelphia managed to blank New England while scoring twice. However, New England came back hunting in the fourth to outscore Philadelphia and secure the win as well as their first place status.

For Philadelphia, Matt Rambo and Cory Vitarelli each had two goals while Kiel Matisz, Liam Byrnes and Brett Hickey each found the net once. Kevin Crowley was held scoreless against his former team.

For New England, it was Callum Crawford who was the real star with virtually the same highlight worthy goal scored twice. Also adding two each were Andrew Kew and Jordan Durston.

Wings’ coach Paul Day seemed agitated but remained calm during the press conference.

“[It was the] first time we’ve lost three in a row all year,” he said. “It was our worst 5-on-5 game offensively or one goal 5-on-5… That’s the difference. Offensively, we were terrible on the 5-on-5. We did not cash in on the power play. We could have cashed in more on the power play.”

When asked how they move on, Day responded, “we turn the page and focus on the next group. We’ll hopefully get some fresh bodies in and see what we can do.”

Matt Rambo looked equally frustrated in his press conference. He said he was hoping the loss would “give the guys extra steam,” and was hoping the team would have a short memory heading into Georgia Sunday afternoon. His words were prophetic as Philadelphia defeated the Swarm 12-11.